Town Council delays use agreement approval for Thomas Keller's Ta-boo revamp

The Palm Beach Town Council pushed back its approval for the documents governing the new Thomas Keller-backed Ta-boo restaurant after members expressed concern over its future impact on traffic on Worth Avenue and potential to become a nightclub.

However, council members also praised project representatives for drawing up the first governing document to ever exist between the town and the restaurant on 221 Worth Ave.

"These people want to make it work, and anything we put in the declaration-of-use is an improvement over what existed for Ta-boo, which had no declaration-of-use, no parameters," Mayor Daniel Moore said. "I think everything we're doing to add some boundaries to this is an improvement."

The eatery, which was forced to close its doors in May 2023, will join Keller's fleet of award-winning restaurants, including Napa Valley's The French Laundry and New York's Per Se, both three-Michelin star awardees.

During Wednesday's development review meeting, the council's praise for the current agreement was reserved for its valet policy, which allows the Palm Beach Police Department to dictate the amount of valet drivers needed at the restaurant.

The agreement's outdated traffic study, however, drew the concern of Council ember Julie Araskog, who said the town should hold its approval until after the completion of the updated traffic study.

“It’s awful there (Worth avenue) ...  It’s not your fault, but that’s just Bilboquet and Café Flora, so what happens when you have 213 seats and you have only four valets?” said Araskog, noting Ta-boo's future seating capacity. “So, I feel we should wait for the traffic study because we’re looking at Worth Ave.”

Araskog said it shouldn’t delay Ta-boo's opening in spring 2025 because the restaurant can continue construction while waiting for approval. Council members also expressed concern about the music allowed in the agreement, which states Ta-boo can play “background music and live music with a piano and piano player.”

Araskog said it should include clear language stipulating that there will be no DJ, loudspeakers or dance floor at the restaurant.

Maura Ziska, attorney for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, said the only live music allowed would be a solo piano player, while also contending that Ta-boo does not need to ban loudspeakers since it isn't neighboring any residences.

Araskog said that didn’t matter, emphasizing that the council does not want the restaurant to become a nightclub.

Council Member Lew Crampton and President Bobbie Lindsay agreed.

“I believe when I was a child it was kind of a nightclub, it stayed open really late, and it was really loud ... and so I don’t want it to return to that because that’s not who we are,” Lindsay said.

Lindsay also said she couldn’t vote in favor of an agreement that allows the restaurant to stay open until 1 a.m., instead calling for Ta-boo to close at midnight for its Thursday through Sunday hours of operation.

Wayne Bergman, director of the Planning, Zoning and Building Department, criticized the agreement's deviation from the declaration-of-use template created by the town. He said town officials would need time to review the agreement presented.

Ziska argued that the template created by the town was overly complicated and included conditions that were not relevant to the restaurant, but said she was willing to meet with town officials to revise the declaration-of-use agreement.

With the restaurant's opening still a year away, Lindsay said it may be best to defer the project by one month to give the town and representatives of Ta-boo time to revise the agreement.

"We want to be comfortable, we want to welcome Mr. Keller to the neighborhood, but there is no critical time thing going on," Lindsay said. "Staff has raised enough (concerns) for me, that we should work on this a little bit more, and come back next month and we'll probably get it done."

The council unanimously voted to defer discussion to its May 15 development review meeting.

Diego Diaz Lasa is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dlasa@pbdailynews.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Ta-boo's use agreement stalls at Palm Beach Town Council